Movie Variety Show: Starting from a New World

The journey was relatively peaceful. Zhao Cheng only encountered five thieves, four of whom stabbed clothes and three who wanted to rob. Zhao Cheng broke one of their hands and feet and threw them to the train police. Of course, Zhao Cheng only recorded his statement the first time. The remaining train police just nodded when they saw Zhao Cheng and that was it. At most, they muttered that this guy was really cruel!

After arriving in Pukou, Zhao Cheng took a ferry across the river and boarded the train to Shanghai. The journey was quite peaceful, and there weren't many chickens, ducks, geese, or other animals on the train, as there were more wealthy people here. After more than a day's journey, Zhao Cheng arrived at his destination, the Shanghai Railway Station.

Zhao Cheng, in plainclothes, was a covert agent, so he didn't wait for Zheng Chaoyang and the others and walked straight out of the station. Looking out at Shanghai in the 50s, Zhao Cheng found it to be just so-so. Not much more crowded than in Beijing, except for the fact that there were more high-rise buildings. Beijing was still primarily composed of courtyard houses.

Walking on the street, there are rickshaws everywhere, and many people are riding on rickshaws. There are much more people than in Beijing.

Zhao Cheng did not go directly to the Shanghai Police Headquarters. Instead, he found a small alley and rented a small single room, which cost him 25 yuan a month. Fortunately, the rent was reimbursed by the government, otherwise Zhao Cheng would never live in such a place. It was too expensive, almost as much as an ordinary worker's monthly salary.

After renting the apartment, Zhao Cheng went for a stroll, first to the Bund and then to Nanjing Road. He was dazzled by the sight. A few of the brothels were gone, but there were still plenty of shops and department stores. In Shanghai, you could fully appreciate what a major city of that era was like.

Zhao Cheng didn't have any tasks today, so he came out for a stroll to see if there were any houses for sale. He planned to buy one.

While the management is not strict enough and there is no internet, you can buy a house here and rent it out when the time comes. Just come here once a year.

When strolling to Huanghe Road, Zhao Cheng found that many shops facing the street were closed with words "for sale" written on them. Zhao Cheng remembered that this place seemed to be built into a food street in the future.

Zhao Cheng walked in and asked around. He found out that the houses here were not too expensive and were well within Zhao Cheng's reach. So Zhao Cheng asked if there was a whole building for sale behind Huanghe Road.

After about half an hour, Zhao Cheng actually found a man who wanted to sell the entire building and move his family to Mingzhu.

After an introduction, Zhao Cheng contacted the landlord. The landlord had several small buildings for sale on Huanghe Road. Zhao Cheng selected two adjacent buildings, No. 7 and No. 9 Xieheli, near the intersection of Huanghe Road and Beijing West Road. These were two three-story buildings, but the landlord had divided them into 12 individual rooms, each rented out individually. All of these rooms were now occupied, mostly by factory workers with relatively stable and high incomes.

He had agreed with the landlord to buy the two buildings for 20 small yellow croakers. The landlord was willing to pay so low because Zhao Cheng paid directly in gold.

Zhao Cheng was completely lucky. The landlord was running away, but the landlord didn't recognize the RMB in his hand! He wanted to exchange it for gold, but no one would exchange it for such a large amount. Gold is still relatively scarce in Shanghai now.

After all, when the Nanjing government was ousted, they had already plundered all the gold and other hard currencies in Shanghai. After the new government came in, they banned the gold trade. It was incredibly difficult to find gold.

Zhao Cheng followed the homeowner to the housing authority to transfer the property. Looking at the simple deed in his hand, Zhao Cheng felt a sense of wonder. Only then did Zhao Cheng finally believe that he had, with twenty small yellow croakers, truly bought two small houses in Shanghai. While they weren't Western-style houses, Zhao Cheng knew that if he tried to buy a Western-style house himself, he probably wouldn't be able to keep it. It would also bring him trouble. So, just buying these two small houses was enough.

Afterwards, Zhao Cheng returned to the small building with the landlord. Zhao Cheng found a tenant, a worker from a Shanghai machinery factory. His family of five rented a room in the small building.

"Wang Ying, this is your new landlord. If you have any problems in the future, please contact him!" The landlord introduced Zhao Cheng to Wang Ying and left. He had to continue selling his house.

Zhao Cheng had inquired with the previous owner of the house. Wang Ying was an old man from the machinery factory. He was a relatively honest person and didn't fight or compete. He was the only one in his family, with a wife who looked after the children. They didn't have any relatives.

If Zhao Cheng wanted Wang Ying to be the liaison for the two buildings, since Zhao Cheng could not be in Shanghai normally, he could only collect the rent at a fixed time every year. After the tenants moved out, Zhao Cheng planned to take back the two buildings and no longer rent them out.

"Mr. Zhao, if you want me to act as a liaison for the tenants in your house, that's fine. I will definitely do it for you! Don't worry!" Wang Ying had a good impression of Zhao Cheng. After all, Zhao Cheng looked like a very decent person. Although he looked like a pretty boy, he didn't have that domineering look.

"Well, Brother Wang, let me tell you this, as long as you help me collect the rent, I will give you a commission of one dollar every month, which is 12 dollars a year. This way, you only need to spend 10 dollars a month to rent the house you live in now. Of course, if these tenants move out, you don't have to rent it out again, just leave the house empty, and I will deal with it later!" said Zhao Cheng.

When Wang Ying heard that there was a kickback, his eyes immediately lit up. He didn't expect there would be such a good thing.

"Don't worry, Mr. Zhao, I will definitely take good care of your house!" Wang Ying promised.

"That's fine. I won't say much about your previous rent and how much I'm paying. Although the landlord has sold the house to me, I don't want the rent he collected from you before. I will come once in the middle of the year or the end of the year to collect the rest. If I don't come that year, you can just remit the rent to Peking for me. But this situation shouldn't happen!" Zhao Cheng said to Wang Ying.

"Actually, Mr. Zhao, you don't have to come here every year. Train tickets are not cheap. If you trust me, just leave it to me. I will transfer the money to you after collecting the rent every year!" Wang Ying said happily.

"It depends on the situation. There's no rush! I'll write to you in advance if I have something to say! Don't worry! As long as you stay here for one day and help me for one day, I guarantee that your benefits will not stop!" said Zhao Cheng.

"No problem, Mr. Zhao!" Wang Ying shook hands with Zhao Cheng, his face full of gratitude. After all, this was equivalent to giving him money! Even if Zhao Cheng didn't give him any benefits, he would still do it if he asked him to help collect the rent, not to mention there were benefits!